14 bolt "short" spindle hub on "long" spindle

[Gunnibronco]

I'm building a 14b/9" hybrid rear axle with a Trail Gear housing and Ruffstuff 14b/60 spindles. I read everything I could on the Billavista 14b bible but ran into a problem they don't seem to address.

14 Bolt Full Float Axle Spindles

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The Ruffstuff spindles say they will work with hubs up to 1999 (from what I see Solid Industries spindles are the same). I think the 99 cut off is when they went to disk brakes and possibly sold to AAM, but I'm not sure. I have a set of SRW hubs (slip on drums 88-99) that I tried to use. Now I've found out the spindle length also changed in 1988. The 1988-99 spindles are about 1/4" shorter than the early spindles (and RS spindles). When you slide the 88-99 hubs onto a longer spindle the nut cannot tighten against the outer bearing because the threads don't extend in far enough.

So basically how does a "short spindle 88-99" hub work on a "long pre-88" spindle? Are people cutting a spacer to fit between the spindle nut and bearing? Or something else?

Honestly, I solved the problem by finding a set of pre-88 SRW hubs, but I'd like to know how these fit. I need to sell the 88-99 hubs and have someone interested but they have a long spindle 14 bolt housing.

 

[Gunnibronco]

I did call RS today and the guy I talked to had no idea there were different spindles. He said he'd ask around and see if there was a solution.

My guess is there is no real way to make the short spindle hub work on a long spindle, and RS's web site is wrong about compatible years.

 

[arse_sidewards]

I don't see why you couldn't run a spacer. If the snout of the spindle hits the axle shaft then it's easy enough to trim.

Since you're building an axle from scratch this kind of begs the question why you're not just getting a used axle as a donor.

 

[Bebop]

Just get some unit bearing cups and ditch the spindle setup altogether.

 

[u2slow]

88-91 spindles/hubs are the old style. The slip-off drum style starts for 92. Most common on the FF in a 2500 suburban. A 2500 pickup with the FF hasn't been slip-off IME. I forget what a 3500 SRW uses.

Short version is the 14bFF with a slip-off drums are bit of a bastard. Don't try to mix'n'match - use them complete.

 

[JohnnyJ]

My 1998 K3500 14-bolt had slip-off drums.

 

[Gunnibronco]

So apparently I'm not getting emails notifying me of responses to this forum.

Both RS and Solid said their spindles will only work with "long" spindle hubs.

I don't see why you couldn't run a spacer. If the snout of the spindle hits the axle shaft then it's easy enough to trim.

Since you're building an axle from scratch this kind of begs the question why you're not just getting a used axle as a donor.

I was just worried about the bearing spacing being different. I'm not sure how that would work.

My build plans changed mid-stream to go ff and I couldn't find a reasonably priced 14b quickly. The hubs and spindles were less than the axles I was finding (not to mention the work to remove the spindles). I didn't know about the long/short spindle issues at the time. I was told "Just get a set of 14b hubs, it's easy." I wanted to get the truck back running, not shop for 14b's until I found the right one. But in the end, yes it would have been easier to find a cheap axle and keep the spindles and hubs together.

Just get some unit bearing cups and ditch the spindle setup altogether.

Too late, my stuff is done, just trying to help a friend who needs a set of SRW hubs.

88-91 spindles/hubs are the old style. The slip-off drum style starts for 92. Most common on the FF in a 2500 suburban. A 2500 pickup with the FF hasn't been slip-off IME. I forget what a 3500 SRW uses.

Short version is the 14bFF with a slip-off drums are bit of a bastard. Don't try to mix'n'match - use them complete.

I don't know the years, and am only going off what I've read on a bunch of threads. The more I read, the more I see there isn't a consensus of exactly what year things changed, and there was a period of time where there was some of both out there. All I know is one set of my sets of hubs has the short spindle bearing spacing and had slip of drums or disks (I only got the hubs, but the studs (metric) were still installed so I know the drums/disks slip on). Those hubs didn't work with the long spindles from RS. As I said above, a complete axle as a donor would have eliminated this problem, but things didn't work out that way. There are a few things I'd go back and do differently. This is my first time building a set of axles like this so I have learned a lot along the way.